The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team continues to pile up commitments as national signing day approaches.
In the past couple of days the Mocs have added three more: Hoover (Ala.) High School offensive lineman Brandon Morgan, safety Cameron Montgomery from Jones High in Florida and Hendersonville (Tenn.) High School defensive lineman Troy Dye.
The Mocs are now up to 18 commitments after having to part ways with two -- Villa Rica (Ga.) receiver Alexander Morgan and Apalachee (Ga.) offensive lineman Nathan Holton -- for academic reasons.
UTC commitments:Dustin Christian, RB, Calhoun (Ga.) HSJarrod Coleman, TE, McCallie SchoolMarlandas Crane, WR, Carrollton (Ga.) HSTroy Dye, DL, Hendersonville (Tenn.) HSJosh Freeman, DT, Creekside (Ga.) HSMarquis Green, RB, Palmetto (Fla.) HSSynjen Herren, OL, Northwest Whitfield HS*Shaun Hill, OL, Apalachee (Ga.) HSJacob Huesman, QB, Baylor SchoolKendrix Huitt, RB, Norcross (Ga.) HSCameron Montgomery, S, Jones (Fla.) HSRon Moore Jr., WR, Seminole (Fla.) HSBrandon Morgan, OL, Hoover (Ala.) HS*Sean Stackhouse, TE, Univ. of KentuckyTevin Stewart-Gaulden, DB, Fitzgerald (Ga.) HST.J. Thompson, DB, Seminole (Fla.) HSTaharin Tyson, FB, Alcoa HSDarrell Warren, DE, Alcoa HS* January enrollee
Mocs coach Russ Huesman has said UTC plans to sign about 20 players next Wednesday on national signing day.
Montgomery committed to the Mocs on Sunday night during his Sunday-Monday official visit. He spent Friday and Saturday visiting Middle Tennessee State.
Rated a 2-star prospect by Scout.com, the 6-foot, 195-pound Montgomery averaged seven tackles a game for Jones this season.
"It basically came down to Middle Tennessee or Chattanooga, and I didn't feel like Middle Tennessee needed me as much or showed as much urgency to have me at their school," said Montgomery, the third player from the Orlando area to commit to UTC.
The 6-2, 280-pound Morgan visited UTC during the first recruiting weekend in January. After that he took visits to The Citadel and Samford before picking UTC.
"I kind of felt at home there," he said, "and I also liked the people there and the environment."
Morgan was Class 6A first-team all-state as a junior and was honorable mention all-state as a senior. He said one of the reasons he chose UTC was that he'd be able to study atmospheric science with the ultimate goal of working in meteorology.
Dye started at both tight end and defensive end for Hendersonville, which made it all the way to Tennessee's Class 5A championship game. The 6-3, 250-pounder earned all-county honors at defensive end for the second season in a row.
He had a 13-yard catch and a tackle for loss in the state-title game, which the Commandos lost 28-7 to Columbia Central.
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